As broadband communications systems emerge, the need for power efficient data transmission is becoming important, particularly as operators try to reduce capital and operating expenses. For example, in cable television systems that rely on Class A amplifiers for amplifying signals for data transmission, the cost of powering the cable television network can be the largest operating expense. A more power efficient amplifier would, therefore, be highly desirable for cable operators.
Also, consumers of broadband content, such as pay-per-view digital video and popular video streaming services like Netflix, demand increased levels of content available across multiple devices at any time. Hence, the bandwidth requirements on the cable television or other broadband communication network continues to grow. Forecasters see little change in the growth pattern of data consumption.
Meeting this demand can involve turning to advanced methods of encoding signals before transmission over a broadband network. Such modulation techniques can be increasingly sophisticated and can provide impressive leaps in bandwidth efficiency. However, the improved signals can be much harder to amplify.